Digitally released on the last day of 2021, thus bypassing the social signaling of year-end lists, Midnartiis’ new album Sinew of Sol presents an incredibly gratifying listening experience. An intuitive synthesis of melodic black metal, heavy metal and folk music, the album is a substantial leap forward for Midnartiis. The solo project of multi-instrumentalist Wes Radvansky, Midnartiis focuses on the eternal; music bound by the laws of causation but imparts a design greater than the sum of its parts, and in doing so reveals a transcendental disposition.
The framework is intuitive, and the expression is significantly dynamic. Melodicism is evoked in thoughtful ways; from venerable acoustic sections to full-scale metal manifestations, as well as everything in-between. Each phrase is superbly articulated and seamlessly positioned in composition, thusly producing an experience of perpetual unravelment not unlike a logogenesis where meaning is expanded upon in gradational phases. Moreover, the neofolk core of the project instills an air of royalty which, coupled with the project’s congenital melodicism, brings about a depth not often found in metal today. The achievements of the album are vast, especially for a solo project, but it is the grander scale attained which makes Sinew of Sol indeed extraordinary.
Sinew of Sol transcends the elements that it is comprised of, offering us a reminder of the heights where metal can be taken to when the creative force behind it cultivates its natural idiosyncrasies to such an extent that its ripe uniqueness cannot be denied. Each track succeeds by its own merits, but it is the narrative context of the album as a whole which thrusts Sinew of Sol to greater heights.
